4214 - Nicholas Verkolje, attributed, Antony and Cleopatra

Nicholas Verkolje, attributed, Antony and Cleopatra Cleopatra is enthroned in the centre on a couch; Antony kneels beside her at the foot of the couch; three figures enter the hall from the background and discover the lovers, set within a magnificent Baroque-style interior reminiscent of a church interior, a beautiful, finely painted work, oil on canvas; remnants of a monogram in the lower left-hand corner; lined; signs of age; slight traces of restoration; in a matching frame; inner dimensions 42 x 53 cm. Provenance: Arcurial Paris, auction 4 February 2020, Lot 346: sold there as an authentic work by the artist. Artist information: Dutch genre, history and portrait painter (1673 in Delft - 1746 in Amsterdam), a pupil of his father Jan Verkolje, documented as living in Amsterdam from 1704, with a particular interest in classical themes and sculpture; his work frequently shows references to Nicolas Poussin, he also likely collaborated with landscape painters such as Isaac de Moucheron and Albert Meyering, for whom he painted background figures; a versatile artist who has fallen into obscurity over the centuries; today, only just under 40 of the artist’s works can be unequivocally attributed to him. Source: RKD Research and Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon Online.